Johannesburg, Mar 10 :Anti-apartheid icon and former South African President Nelson Mandela was back home today after spending a night in hospital where he underwent a “successful medical examination”, the president's office said.
“Former President Nelson Mandela has this afternoon returned to his Johannesburg home following a successful medical examination at a Pretoria hospital,” South African presidential spokesman Mac Maharaj said.
“The doctors have completed the tests. He is well and as before, his health remains under the management of the medical team,” he said.
The 94-year-old leader was admitted to hospital yesterday, less than three months after being treated for a lung infection and gallstones.
“Former president Nelson Mandela was admitted to hospital in Pretoria on March 9 for a scheduled medical check-up to manage the existing conditions in line with his age,” the spokesman had said yesterday.
Authorities, however, did not give details about his health even as the hospitalisation of the iconic leader sparked concern.
Mandela spent 18 days in hospital in December for treatment of a recurrent lung infection and surgery to extract gallstones. It was his longest stint in hospital since his release from prison in 1990.
His health has been a cause of concern for many years.
The Nobel Peace Prize laureate served as South Africa's first black president from 1994 to 1999 and is widely regarded as the father of the nation for leading the struggle against apartheid and for democracy.
He first contracted tuberculosis in the 1980s while detained in the windswept Robben Island off Cape Town. He spent almost three decades in prison.
Mandela has been admitted to hospital on three occasions in the past two years. In January, 2011, he was treated for a chest infection in Johannesburg.
The former president has been rarely seen in public since retiring from public life in 2004.
